The present invention relates to cooling systems generally, and more specifically to heat pipe systems.
Flywheel systems are used for energy storage in backup power supplies (e.g., for telecommunication systems, server farms, etc.). Energy is stored in the angular momentum of the flywheel. The flywheel systems are typically stored inside silo canisters, which are buried in the ground. Typical prior-art flywheel systems dissipated a sufficiently small amount of waste heat that the silo could be cooled by passive conduction from the silo into the surrounding ground.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,094, issued to Nickum, discloses a system for cooling electrical components, having a cooling apparatus, for use with an electronic device generating heat, such as a computer with a processor. In one embodiment, the cooling apparatus is thermally coupled with the heat producing component and has a flywheel, a means for converting the waste heat from the heat producing component into rotational movement of the flywheel, and a fan coupled with the flywheel. As the heat producing component generates heat, the flywheel and the fan are rotated. The rotating fan assists in moving air through the system and cools the system
Newer flywheel systems dissipate too much power in the form of heat to cool the flywheels by conduction to the ground or convection to the air alone.
The present invention is a cooling system for cooling a canister. A first heat pipe is mounted around the perimeter of the canister, and includes a condenser. A second heat pipe has an evaporator conductively coupled to the condenser of the first heat pipe. The second heat pipe also includes a condenser, and a heat sink that is conductively coupled to the second heat pipe""s condenser.